International rugby referee Nigel Owens says he was left "shaken and sore" after being involved in a car crash while driving back to Wales after officiating a Heineken Cup match in France.

The Welsh official revealed details of the crash in a string of posts on his Twitter page.

Owens tweeted yesterday "the accident really has shaken me up. Thank god for a BMW car I say or could have been a lot worse." He said his car probably had been written off in the crash.

The 42-year-old Owens, one of the world's best-known referees, took charge of the match between Castres and Leinster on Monday (NZ time) and was driving back from Bristol, where he'd landed from France, when the accident took place.

Owens is down to referee France vs. England in the Six Nations in Paris on February 1.